Starmer-Mandelson newest: PM in peril and prime civil servant sacked over Labour peer’s vetting scandal | EUROtoday

Nigel Farage stated Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office’s prime civil servant, was the “sacrificial lamb in an attempt to try and save the Prime Minister”.

He informed LBC: “None of this adds up, the idea they weren’t told about the vetting.

“Remember, in the House of Commons, Starmer actually said that the vetting had told him about the ongoing relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, then outside of the House, in Hastings, he gave a speech in which he said that Mandelson had cleared security vetting.

“They are all over the place on this, it is totally unbelievable and Robbins, he’s the sacrificial lamb in an attempt to try and save the Prime Minister, and it just isn’t good enough.”

Keir Starmer was proper to say Peter Mandelson had cleared safety vetting procedures when he had been requested beforehand, Darren Jones has stated.

“The Prime Minister was right… because the security and vetting process had been conducted and the Foreign Office granted what’s called developed vetting status to allow for Peter Mandelson’s appointment, so he had been through the process and he had been cleared by the Foreign Office to start the role, so the prime minister was right about that,” he informed BBC.

“What the prime minister was not told until Tuesday evening this week was that the Foreign Office’s decision to give that developed vetting status, and to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador, was against the recommendations of security and vetting officials.”

The Independent’s political journalist Athena Stavrou stories:

Sir Keir Starmer is “furious” after discovering the Foreign Office overruled safety recommendation on Lord Peter Mandelson over his appointment as US ambassador.

Chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones denied the prime minister misled parliament over the previous Labour peer’s safety clearance, however stated he was “furious with the state” over the method.

Mr Jones stated Sir Keir found the Foreign Office had ignored the safety recommendation recommending Lord Mandelson shouldn’t be appointed to the position in Washington.

“It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the prime minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place,” he informed Sky News.

“That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.

“I’ve asked for an urgent review about what decisions these organisations have taken in the past to overrule the recommendations from UK security vetting, and I was due to announce a broader, independent review of the vetting process anyway. And this will now be part of that.”

Keir Starmer was “right” to inform parliament that due course of had been adopted all through Lord Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador, “because it had”, Darren Jones stated.

The chief secretary informed BBC: “The prime minister was right when he told the House that due process had been followed, because it had, but the fact that that process did not require officials to tell the Foreign Secretary or the prime minster that they ignored the advice of security and vetting officials is totally unacceptable.”

Peter Mandelson would have been in a position to see prime secret paperwork throughout his time as UK ambassador to the US, the chief secretary to the prime minister has admitted.

Darren Jones informed Sky News: “The Foreign Office granted developing vetting status to appoint him as ambassador. That meant that he would be allowed, as a point of principle, to see the documents you would need to see as ambassador.”

He stated he couldn’t verify in an “itemised way” which “individual documents did he see or not see”.

The Independent’s political journalist Athena Stavrou stories:

Sir Keir Starmer has not thought of resigning and won’t step down from his place, a authorities minister has insisted.

Chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones stated that his Labour colleagues are usually not reconsidering Sir Keir as their chief – regardless of but extra info coming to mild about Lord Peter Mandelson’s ill-considered appointment as US ambassador.

Asked whether or not the prime minister will resign or if he had thought of his resignation, Mr Jones informed the BBC: “No.”

“The Foreign Office was allowed to overrule the recommendation from UK security vetting to not appoint Peter Mandelson to the role of ambassador to the United States,” he added.

“When the Foreign Office overruled that recommendation, it granted what’s called developed vetting status, which allowed for Peter Manderson to be appointed.”

It is “beyond unacceptable” that the Foreign Office was in a position to overrule a safety vetting course of to clear Lord Peter Mandelson to turn into UK ambassador to the US and guidelines have been modified to stop it occurring, Darren Jones stated.

The Chief Secretary to the prime minister stated Keir Starmer was “furious” on the scenario however denied the premier had misled parliament over the Mandelson scandal.

The Foreign Office’s prime civil servant Sir Olly Robbins was successfully sacked after the revelation that officers took the uncommon step of overruling the advice from UK Security Vetting.

Mr Jones informed LBC Radio: “Given the nature of the problem here, not just in terms of the appointment, but the position that it has put the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers in as a consequence of the decision to overrule the recommendation of UK Security Vetting, and the fact that the system even allowed for that to happen in the first place, it’s of a scale of a problem that we’ve not experienced in government before.

“It is beyond unacceptable.”

Mr Jones stated he had suspended the flexibility of the Foreign Office and a “small number” of different organisations to overrule suggestions by UK Security Vetting.

The prime minister is “furious with the state” as a result of the Foreign Office was in a position to overrule the vetting course of fo Peter Mandelson, his chief secretary stated.

Speaking to Sky News, Darren Jones stated Keir Starmer had ordered an pressing overview after discovering that the Foreign Office and different Government departments ignored safety recommendation when appointing individuals to delicate roles.

“It is utterly unacceptable, not just in the individual case of Peter Mandelson and respect of the Prime Minister’s fury at the Foreign Office for not having taught him this information, but the very fact that their processes were in place that allow for that to happen in the first place.

“That’s why in my role in the Cabinet Office, immediately last night, I suspended the rights for these organisations to make these judgments.

“I’ve asked for an urgent review about what decisions these organisations have taken in the past to overrule the recommendations from UK security vetting, and I was due to announce a broader, independent review of the vetting process anyway. And this will now be part of that.”